The board of the Hermitage Artist Retreat in the United States announced today that the organisation has chosen Andy Sandberg as its Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer as of January 1, 2020. Sandberg succeeds Bruce Rodgers, who is retiring after serving as the Hermitage’s Executive Director since 2005. Sandberg, an accomplished director, writer, and Tony Award-winning producer whose national and international career has been committed to new work and artist development, was selected following an extensive national search. In his new role, Sandberg will be responsible for overseeing the organisation’s operations, artistic programs, administration, and strategic plan.
“We’re very excited to have Andy shepherd in a new wave of leadership for the Hermitage,” says Leslie Edwards, President of the Hermitage’s Board of Trustees. “The interest in this position from so many accomplished professionals from around the United States was above and beyond what we hoped for. Andy emerged as a forward-thinking leader ready to serve our mission with enthusiasm and integrity; he was our unanimous choice. We were wowed by his passion, vision, fresh ideas, and charisma—and his extensive experience nurturing artists and their projects is invaluable to us. We were fortunate to find someone of Andy’s caliber to lead this organisation at this critical juncture and proud to put our future in his hands.”
“I have been fortunate to work with so many brilliant artists over the years as a director, writer and producer, and I am incredibly excited to be appointed the Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage, an organisation that shares my longstanding commitment to artists and the development of new work,” said Andy Sandberg. “While I will continue to work on my own creative projects and ongoing collaborations in theatre, film, and television, I look forward to working with the Hermitage board, the dedicated staff, and a brilliant and diverse group of artists to grow the Hermitage’s reach and impact around the country and throughout the world. The company is poised for an exciting next chapter, and this is an opportunity to reimagine what is possible for the Hermitage while holding true to the company’s core mission: to inspire the artists of our time.”
“I am in the unique position of having known both Andy and Bruce since they were young men – in Andy’s case, a very young man – and therefore take special pleasure in this development. Andy was my student when he was at Yale and impressed me with his preternatural entrepreneurial gifts,” said Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright and Hermitage Alumnus Donald Margulies. “I have watched with pride as he fulfilled that talent with a glowing resume of professional accomplishments as a multi-hyphenated theatre artist. I applaud the Hermitage for recognising in Andy a bright young leader who will build on Bruce’s accomplishments with passion and vision.”
In addition to his leadership position at the Hermitage in Florida, Sandberg will continue to develop outside projects in theatre, television and film. He will be directing How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre (Jupiter, FL) in the spring of 2020, and future stage productions and screen adaptations are currently in the works for Application Pending, Straight, and Shida, among other new projects in development in New York, London, and Los Angeles.
